CANTON — In a county littered with talented volleyball players who saw their names added to the various all-area and all-state teams, Sequoyah’s Logan Page rose to the top of the pack for not only elevating her play, but also the players around her.

The junior helped the Lady Chiefs advance to the Class AAAAA state finals, though they ultimately lost to McIntosh in a hard-fought four-set match. Along the way, Sequoyah amassed a 40-5 record — winning 30 straight matches from Sept. 10-Oct. 30.

As a setter, Page was certainly key to the Lady Chiefs’ offense. She recorded 910 assists — an average of 8.2 per set — and added 243 digs and 67 aces. What also made Page stand out are her statistics at the net, where she tallied 118 kills and 49.5 blocks.

At the end of the season, Page was voted the Area 7AAAAA Player of the Year and named first-team all-state in Class AAAAA. With Page as her setter, Sequoyah outside hitter Kali Jones was also named first-team all-state and all-area.

For all of her accomplishments this season, Page is the 2013 Cherokee Tribune Volleyball Player of the Year.

“It was really exciting,” Page said. “I had never before gotten an award like that, so it was really cool to get.”

Page said the award feels even greater because she knows how many other talented players there are in the county.

In addition to Page and Jones, River Ridge’s Brittany Castro and Jessica Mlaska were all-state honorees in their classification. Sequoyah’s Kelley Hartman was named first-team All-Area 7AAAAA and an all-state honorable mention, while Castro, Mlaska and Ashley Casey were all-Area 7AAAA. Etowah’s Jenna Lea and Natalie Lucco were all-Area 4AAAAAA, while Creekview’s Katie Creger was all-area in 7AAAAA.

“There are so many good players on my team and that live in the county,” Page said. “That makes it that much more valuable.”

From the start, Page had a feeling that the season was going to be a special one for her entire team. The precise feeling isn’t anything that she can put her finger.

“From the first match, I just knew,” she said. “We started off so good at the Sequoyah Classic. I just knew this year was going to be a good year for us, and we just kept improving and getting better. I just took it one step at a time. We just kept taking steps at a time — winning all our (area matches) and then county and then the (area) tournament and then going as far in the state tournament as we could.”

Page started playing volleyball when she was 13, after her older sister, Morgan — a former Sequoyah player —took up the sport. Logan Page quickly found her place on the court.

At 6-foot-1, Page has a height that isn’t usually associated with her position. The combination of height and setting skills makes her a challenging player to compete against.

Page can go up for a kill as easily as she can set up one of her teammates. Likewise, she can block alongside other front-row players.

Sequoyah coach John Edwards knew Page would be a special player from the first time that he saw her play in eighth grade.

“I could tell the first five minutes that I saw her play,” Edwards said. “I knew she was going to be good because, at that point, she had already been playing since, probably, sixth grade. You could tell that she had good training and good coaching. She is an outstanding athlete, too, so when you put it all together, you could just see that she was going to be a special player. She has grown and gotten better every year, which is something not everyone does.”

Looking toward her senior season, Page has already started setting goals. Among them is to pick up where she left off with her Lady Chief teammates. She wants them to build on the fundamentals they already know and not have to refresh their skills.

“I want to just get better and not have to focus on the technical things so much and just go back to work,” Page said. “We really are best friends. We hang out on the weekends, not just in practice. We enjoy each other’s company. All of us are so close. There aren’t any cliques on our team. We are all just like best friends together.”

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